Sheffield United: Blades prepare for ‘new’ players

James Shield

Nigel Adkins, the Sheffield United manager, last night acknowledged he has yet to decide his first choice starting eleven three months after taking charge of the League One club.

Adkins, whose side faces Doncaster Rovers at Bramall Lane today, made the admission after revealing that a clutch of influential players, including Matt Done and John Brayford, are closing in on a return to fitness following long spells in the treatment room.

Indicating that Ryan Flynn and Che Adams could both feature this afternoon, Adkins said: “We have got players coming back from injury, and there is no-one unavailable from last weekend. At Cardiff in the under-21’s earlier this week, Che Adams played 45 minutes and scored a good goal, Paul Coutts played 90 minutes and did really well. We will see how they recover from that.

“It was a good 90 minutes for Paul, and we have players coming back.

“Ryan Flynn has trained really well today, (John) Brayford is not ready yet but he has stepped up and done a bit more - Matty’s joined in a lot more with the contact side of things, and even Flo (Cuvelier) joined in.”

“We are really excited, they are good players,” Adkins added. “You look at these players, and conceivably, they are going to be starters.

“It’s a shame they haven’t been available to us so far, but they are now coming back and it makes the squad a lot more healthy than it has been. It’s important, that competition for places, the camaraderie.

“We have got a lot of games to play, and they are like new players for me, as I have not had a chance to utilise them.”